Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by HalfFull:

Pours a deep black, I couldn't see any light or even highlights through this brew. Thick tan head offers solid retention and decent lacing initially, more random later with reduced stickiness.

This is a hoppy porter or a toasty IPA, a bit in between. The menu called it an IPA and the hop presence supports that point. Yet my initial whiff and taste were surely in the Porter corner, with toasted malts and a hint of coffee. Coffee scents cleared out quickly, yielding mostly pine hops. A bit of citrus was present but the malt scents overwhelmed, allowing the earthy aromas to dominate.

Tastes of roasted malts, yet without the residual sugar sweetness I was anticipating; this being replaced by a slightly bitter hop finish. Feel and drink are balanced but a bit confusing.

More User Reviews:

Tap @ Solana Beach. Pours jet black with a short-lived fizzy head. Never had an IPA this black. Toast, rye, hops, pine, apple, and some smoke. Sharp, crisp hop bite up front with a lot of pepper and grapefruit. The malt gives it a velvet feel and a nice, rich, earthy back. A fair amount of roasted flavor, but its almost more like a toasted rye as opposed to a roasted malt. Kind of a nice tobacco flavor. Just an excellent beer.

Brewed in celebration of the Liar's Club 7th Anniversary.
Poured a dark black amber with a tiny white head that stays as a white ring throughout the drink.
Aromas are amber malts and simple hops...very clean and fresh.
Surprising mouth of citrus hops...orange and lemon peel mostly. Only a little grapefruit peel in the taste.
Very little about the sweet malts in this brew...only enough to cover and blend with the hops to keep them from being obnoxious.
Good for several pints...too bad they ran dry.

Served on tap at Stone during a visit to celebrate my first week of work and whatnot.

A: Dark black (although not as thick looking as an imperial stout) with not much of a head.

S: Smells hoppy, yet there is a distinct roasted smell too. Definitely smells like a hopped up porter. Hmmm - this looks to be a new experience!

T: Indeed, it is a new experience! I've had hoppy porters, but none that had truly IPA levels of hops. Surprisingly, this is a really good combo (or maybe not surprisingly, if you've had Baltic Porters). Wonderful roasted coffee flavor with a nice surge of bitterness. The roastiness makes it tough to pick out if it's piny or citrusy hops, but I want to say they lean toward piny. A wonderful and unique blend of two styles. Nicely done Pizza Port - and a nice tribute to Liars Club.

M: Slightly weak on the mouthfeel, but nothing that really hurts the beer. However, the 8% is amazingly well hidden. I truly thought it was 5-6%.

D: Extremely drinkable. If it weren't for the 8%, this would be a great session beer.

Highly recommended if you get the chance. This is a unique style - albeit one that I hope becomes more commonplace.

A special Port Brewed ale in honor of the Liars Club 7th Anniversary, an India Black Porter, ie. Black Hoppy Porter...comprende!

Served in a pint glass, black-ass molassas rootbeer-brown with a thin beige head and a white outermost ring. Nice subtle carbonation, slippery lace.

In the nose is a slap of pine and spruce...hop dominated, sure thing. To the tastebuds, the same...in overdrive! Piney, sappy hop flavor with a mild roasty malt somewhere in the back pasture, and some warmth from the aftermath...no lie!

Medium body that goes down easily, but lacks a velvety smoothness that I was anticipating. None the less, a tasty special brew in honor of a tasty special place of great brews!

It's a big beer on the palate, but it's effervescent, which keeps the flavors from being overwhelming. Black licorice and a hint of caramel malts up front and a long lingering aftertaste of dark malt. But the main flavor of this beer is the significant hop presence that appears as bitterness and a piney resin character.

Interesting entry in the new "black IPA" category, but Stone XI is still tops there.

S: Grapefruit and piney hops, a mild grass aroma, no real roasted aroma, which was surprising.

T: The taste is pretty much right on for what I was looking for. Not quite the same level of roasted maltiness that Stone 11/Sublimely Self-Righteous has. Like the nose, plenty of grapefruit citrus and a bit of sweetness. Quite a bit of piney bitterness.

M: Quite bitter, fairly moderate carbonation, medium body.

D: The booze is hidden on this, which is quite nice. I really like the Black IPA style, so this was right up my alley.

This is supposed to be a "black IPA", or so I was told by the guy pouring it.

It looks like a porter, black, with a thin off-white head. It smells mostly like an IPA, with a fresh hoppy, grassy and citric aroma, although underneath you can find some hints of a porter in the aroma of chocolate, but minimal. Medium bodied, it has a pleasant mouthfeel, but the hop assault along with a burning alcohol detract from the experience a little bit. It is overall a decent beer, with a taste mostly based on citric and piney hops, but the alcohol keeps coming along and keeps it a bit "hot" for what I expected.

Growler split with my dad a few days ago, reviewed from notes, picked this up at Pizza Port Carlsbad on my home from San Diego for nineteen dollars, not counting the glass purchase, ouch, couple servings poured into a pint glass

A-Black but a little going through, 3/4 inch light tan creamy head, looked more like a porter than an IPA, some retention, nice lacingS-Citrus hoppiness and particularly grapefruit, bready maltiness, grass, mild fruit, and pine needlesT-More of a citrusy IPA than anything, hop presence is pretty sweet, nicely balanced with malt, got less bitter as it warmed, lots of resin later on, not bad at allM-Dry, bitter, and slightly roasty mouthfeel, medium bodied, could have probably used some more carbonation, taste lingeredD-Drank a few pints and that was enough, a little heavy on the stomach, ABV was not exactly low either, smooth, alcohol is hidden

Surprised to see this beer and jumped all over it, reminded me a lot of Stone 11th but was missing something it had, hoppiness was strong which was a plus though, grab some there while you can, interesting and worth trying

The taste was great. It had a great mild hop characteristic that was followed by malt body. The malt characteristic was not too thick, it was nice because it was still light enough to let the hops come through. Really good, this actually inspired me to brew a 'dark IPA'.

The mouthfeel was great because it had a great medium mouthfeel that was still bitter from the hops but mellowed by malts. Really enjoyable and drinkable. Highly recommended.